Tidee

Tideè, the great lake known in English as Great Slave Lake, is a vast expanse of water in Dene country. The Slave River enters from the south, and the Mackenzie leaves its western end on a long course to the Arctic Ocean. Its shores range from low forested country to the rocky arms of the eastern lake. Fishing and travel across these waters have long been part of the lives of the peoples around it.

In the winter of 1771 Samuel Hearne crossed the lake with his Dene companions while returning from the Coppermine River. In 1789 Alexander Mackenzie and a party including the Dene guide Aw-gee-nah set out from the lake along its great outlet, hoping to find a route to the Pacific. Instead, the river carried them north to the Arctic coast.